Page One: Inside the New York Times

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

I was in my senior year of college in Dover, Delaware studying & learning how to produce media when September 11th happened. 


After three days glued to the tube, a friend had to pry me away. There was no new news. I was traumatized again and again watching the scenes replay. 


And that began my news blackout. I couldn't watch or read or consume anymore, didn't know who I could trust. Certainly not the New York Times. 


I was dismayed with media in general by graduation. After two commercial radio internships where I learned that most DJ's in America no longer produce or program but push buttons for minimum wage,  I was at a loss as to what to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to be a communicator, but there was no place for me in the media. 


So I made videos. In 2003-2004, I discovered the 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle where I volunteered in exchange for equipment rentals and classes. 

I found Warren Etheredge, who took it upon himself to make movie audiences smarter because, as he claims on his website, "Smarter audiences make a better world!"


I started learning, living, paying attention. I went out to public events, like a Howard Dean speech, and then read about it the next day in the paper. Sometimes what I saw didn't match what the reporter saw. Who was more right? 


Then I watched Control Room. Ever since I've been convinced that if you have something worth communicating, say it in a video. 


You can do it independent of corporate media, and it's the best way to get Americans to pay attention. A great video is almost as a good as experiencing life first hand. 


So by now I've mostly forgiven the New York Times. (Judith Miller, not so much.) It's a company, an institution, which I tend to think can lead to inherent wrong doing. But the individuals behind it are damn fine. And right now that institution facilitates them being at their best.  


Page One: Inside the New York Times is playing at Tampa Theatre through Thursday.